Friday Before the thing even really started I had set up my tent and met a few folks and was startin to try to figure things out and a jeep pulled up and a skinny skateboard type guy with the tattoos shows up and I'm about to give him shit about bein a Jason Ricci wannabee and he gets out of the jeep and gives someone a hug and it is Jason Ricci.
In typical Blues man tradition, Sterling Magee, was late to the party on his birthday having missed a flight for lack of identification. Late for "The Crossroads" late afternoon event where Adam Gussow started releasing their new cd on location where Robert Johnson may have sold his soul to the devil and wrote the sang by that name later immortalized by Clapton and Cream and now Gussow on his "Kick and Stomp" cd recently released (also not to be missed). Live outdoor kickin' and stompin' and minglin with guys like Adam and Russian phenom Alec Paclin and young Brandon Bailey who recently released "Memphis Grooves" (also not to be missed).
Next on to Rooster's in Oxford Mississippi for a gig and Jam orchestrated by another amazing raw blues power harpin Deak Harp. He squeezed scores of us on stage for at least a few bars, scores of to lay down licks as the ngiht transformed into early morning. Packed house full of mostly male harp players in town for the extravaganza, but the local short skirted talent (not harp talent) strutted through the packed house to be seen at the scene. Great to have the jam run by a harp guy instead of a screaming lead guitar player. Deak was cool. I'd later in the weekend share some corn whiskey with him and order a custom harp and buy his cd and show off my overdraw 9. Over the course of the weekend he played amean diddly-bo and stomped out rhythms and played raw mean old nasty, yet modern tinged harp.
And the players were great! Alec Paclin played some mean blue standards with his inimitable modern blues speed riffs and struttin for real goodness. Started figuring out who some of the real harp players were and there were plenty.
@ Marcos.....Great videos.....My panasonic takes nice vids but struggles under low light situations. If there were a couple of Low floods I would have been fine....but what can I say...What camera were you using? It seems to not be bothered by low light. ----------
I was using my little FLIP Ultra. I use it mainly because it is about the size of a deck of cards (fits in my pocket), has pretty decent sound for its size, and it's really easy to upload into the computer (built-in USB, so I don't have to find a cable). Not bad for what it is, I guess.
Last Edited by on May 30, 2011 10:38 AM
The scene at Red's Juke Joint in Clarksdale, MS the Thurs. night before HCH2. My plane got into Memphis late and I missed Adam's show, but got there in time for Deak Harp (not pictured in this photo -- but I got a lot more Deak photos I'll be posting here or on the Facebook HCH site) and his truly awesome band. Red's is really just great music, beer (bottles in coolers behind the bar) chairs and tables, and some gritty, original atmosphere. And that's all you need when the music is this good. -Jordan Moss
Last Edited by on May 30, 2011 7:55 PM
Jason Ricci and Duwayne Burnside performing together on Sunday night at HCH2. It was announced early in Jason's set, as I recall, that Duwayne was in the house. A few songs into the set Duwayne and his brother on bass (correct me if I'm wrong on this) joined Jason on stage. From what I understand this was something of a reunion as Jason and the Burnsides go way back to when Jason lived in the area. I made the photo b/w just because I think it looks better than the color version. -Jordan Moss
It was a fantastic time, an experience of a lifetime and some of the best live music I've ever heard or felt.
Big thanks to Adam, the Hollowells and ALL of the performers from the pros to the beginners. Already looking forward to next year!
Besides all of the fun and meeting new friends, the weekend really helped me focus on setting some goals, realistic and non realistic...get there or die trying. :)
Wasn't Sugar Blue supposed to be there? I havent seen one photo of him. Didn't anyone get a picture of a guy that played with Willie Dixon and recorded on one of the most commercially successful Rolling Stones tunes in the past three decades?
Sugar Blue was indeed there, and while he was pretty strict about prohibiting video, photos were no problem. I've got more photos of him and will eventually post them all to my flickr site. Thanks for asking, Joe. (I should add that he gave a great "lecture" with Adam interviewing him. It was a great conversation where he regaled us with great stories of his work with Memphis Slim, the Rolling Stones, how he gets that growly, guttural noise out of the harp like (lots of saliva, he told us and demonstrated)and so much more. Yet another great thing about HCH -- just learning so much more about all these harp heroes at such a grassroots level. It's really a testament as to how Adam and Jeff put this together. -Jordan
Last Edited by on May 31, 2011 7:40 PM
Hey, I just posted the first of what will probably be a few HCH2 slideshows to flickr. This first one is mostly from Red's in Clarksdale, the Crossroads meet-up and the jam at Rooster's. Here's the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jordanmoss/sets/72157626722287917/show/ -Jordan
